Yearly Archives: 2020

The Winners and Finalists of the 2020 Audie Awards

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Congratulations to the winners of the 2020 Audie Awards!

The Audie Awards recognize outstanding achievements by the authors, narrators, and producers of the most talked-about audiobooks in the industry. See below for this year’s winners and finalists.



Audiobook of the Year

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett M. Graff, narrated by a full 45-person cast

At once a powerful tribute to the courage of everyday Americans and an essential addition to the literature of 9/11, The Only Plane in the Sky weaves together the unforgettable personal experiences of the men and women who found themselves caught at the center of an unprecedented human drama. The result is a unique, profound, and searing exploration of humanity on a day that changed the course of history, and all of our lives.

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner, narrated by Bobby Cannavale, Nathan Lane, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Susan Brown, James Mcardle, Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough, Beth Malone, Lee Pace, and Edie Falco

★ Becoming by Michelle Obama, narrated by Michelle Obama

★ Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, narrated by Meryl Streep, Robin Miles, Kirby Heyborne, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Farr, Lincoln Hoppe, Mark Deakins, Tavia Gilbert, Danny Campbell, Emily Rankin, January Lavoy, and Macleod Andrews

★ The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, narrated by Tom Hanks

★ The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, narrated by Margaret Atwood, Derek Jacobi, Tantoo Cardinal, Mae Whitman, Ann Dowd, and Bryce Dallas Howard



Autobiography / Memoir

Becoming by Michelle Obama, narrated by Michelle Obama

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke, narrated by Tembi Locke

★ Me: Elton John Official Autobiography by Elton John, narrated by Taron Egerton and Elton John

★ MotherStruck! by Staceyann Chin, narrated by Staceyann Chin

★ Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Toward Adulthood by Andrew Rannells, narrated by Andrew Rannells



Best Female Narrator

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, narrated by Marin Ireland

Lillian and Madison were inseparable friends at their elite boarding school—until Lillian had to leave unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal. Years later, Lillian gets a letter from Madison asking her to be the caretaker of her stepkids, who are moving in with her family. The catch? The twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated. Thinking of her dead-end life at home, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian begins to learn that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ All the Lost Things by Michelle Sacks, narrated by Cassandra Morris

★ The Boy by Tami Hoag, narrated by Hillary Huber

★ Prime Suspect by Lynda La Plante, narrated by Rachel Atkins

★ The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by January Lavoy



Best Male Narrator

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny, narrated by Robert Bathurst

When a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand Gamache to an abandoned farmhouse, the former head of the Sûreté du Québec discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will. Still on suspension, and frankly curious, Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder, neither of whom had met the elderly woman.

When a body is found, the terms of the bizarre suddenly seem less peculiar and far more menacing.

Meanwhile, Gamache is attempting to rectify the events that led to his suspension. As his measures become increasingly audacious and desperate, Armand Gamache begins to see his own blind spots. And the terrible things hiding there.

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, narrated by Tom Hanks

★ Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, narrated by Robert Petkoff

★ The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, narrated by JD Jackson and Colson Whitehead

★ Watership Down by Richard Adams, narrated by Peter Capaldi



Multi-Voiced Narration

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett M. Graff, narrated by a full 45-person cast

At once a powerful tribute to the courage of everyday Americans and an essential addition to the literature of 9/11, The Only Plane in the Sky weaves together the unforgettable personal experiences of the men and women who found themselves caught at the center of an unprecedented human drama. The result is a unique, profound, and searing exploration of humanity on a day that changed the course of history, and all of our lives.

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ 200 Women: Who Will Change The Way You See The World by Geoff Blackwell, Ruth Hobday, Kieran Scott, narrated by a full cast

★ Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, narrated by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Pablo Schreiber, and a full cast

★ Dooku: Jedi Lost (Star Wars) by Cavan Scott, narrated by Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Marc Thompson, Pete Bradbury, Jonathan Davis, Neil Hellegers, Sean Kenin, January LaVoy, Saskia Maarleveld, Carol Monda, Robert Petkoff, and Rebecca Soler

★ Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, narrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jeanne Birdsall, Richard Ferrone, Jenna Lamia, and a full cast



Narration by the Author or Authors

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ Becoming by Michelle Obama, narrated by Michelle Obama

★ Inside Out by Demi Moore, narrated by Demi Moore

★ Madame Badobedah by Sophie Dahl, narrated by Sophie Dahl

★ Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future by Pete Buttigieg, narrated by Pete Buttigieg

★ Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice, narrated by Susan Rice



Fiction

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, narrated by Blair Brown

In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand.

Now eighty-nine years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life—and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it.

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer, narrated by Therese Plummer

★ Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris, narrated by Louise Brealey

★ Colombiano by Rusty Young, narrated by Rusty Young and Brian J. Ramos

★ The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell, narrated by Karina Fernandez



Non-Fiction

Grace Will Lead Us Home: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes, narrated by Karen Chilton, Jennifer Berry Hawes

On June 17, 2015, twelve members of the historically black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina welcomed a young white man to their evening Bible study. He arrived with a pistol, 88 bullets, and hopes of starting a race war. Dylann Roof’s massacre of nine innocents during their closing prayer horrified the nation. Two days later, some relatives of the dead stood at Roof’s hearing and said, “I forgive you.” That grace offered the country a hopeful ending to an awful story. But for the survivors and victims’ families, the journey had just begun.

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves by Frans de Waal, narrated by L.J. Ganser

★ The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir by Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson, narrated by Christine Lakin and Dan Woren

★ Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell, narrated by Malcolm Gladwell

★ We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer, narrated by Jonathan Safran Foer



Thriller / Suspense

The Institute by Stephen King, narrated by Santino Fontana

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ Blood in the Water by Jack Flynn, narrated by Dion Graham

★ Freefall by Jessica Barry, narrated by Hillary Huber, Karissa Vacker, and MacLeod Andrews

★ Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman, narrated by Susan Bennett

★ Winter Dark by Alex Callister, narrated by Ell Potter



Mystery

The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup, narrated by Peter Noble

A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen. His calling card is a “chestnut man”—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene. To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the Chestnut Man’s gruesome clues. Because it’s clear that the madman is on a mission that is far from over. And no one is safe.

Read more and sample the audio →


Finalists

★ Along Came a Spider (25 anniversary edition) by James Patterson, narrated by Taye Diggs

★ The Boy by Tami Hoag, narrated by Hillary Huber

★ The Lost Man by Jane Harper, narrated by Stephen Shanahan

★ The New Iberia Blues by James Lee Burke, narrated by Will Patton



Fantasy

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by January Lavoy

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

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Finalists

★ Beasts of the Frozen Sun by Jill Criswell, narrated by Tim Campbell and Alana Kerr Collins

★ Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James, narrated by Dion Graham

★ Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, narrated by Michael David Axtell and Lauren Fortgang

★ Time’s Children by D.B. Jackson, narrated by Helen Keeley



Business / Personal Development

So You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community that Will Listen by Kristen Meinzer, narrated by Kristen Meinzer

A comprehensive step-by-step guide to creating a hit show, So You Want to Start a Podcast covers everything from hosting and guest booking to editing and marketing—while offering plenty of encouragement and insider stories along the way. With this motivational how-to guide—the only one on the subject available—you’ll find the direction you need to produce an entertaining and informative podcast and promote it to the right audience. So You Want to Start a Podcast gives you the tools you need to start a podcast—and the insight to keep it thriving.

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Finalists

★ The Barefoot Spirit by Michael Houlihan, Bonnie Harvey, Rick Kushman, narrated by Ed Asner, Alamada Karatihy, Gigi Perreau

★ Calm the F*ck Down by Sarah Knight, narrated by Sarah Knight

★ Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World by Ashley Goodall and Marcus Buckingham, narrated by Ashley Goodall and Marcus Buckingham

★ Wolfpack by Abby Wambach, narrated by Abby Wambach



History / Biography

American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race by Douglas Brinkley, narrated by Stephen Graybill

On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astonishing announcement: his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing, fast-paced epic, Douglas Brinkley returns to the 1960s to recreate one of the most exciting and ambitious achievements in the history of humankind. American Moonshot brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, which shot the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

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Finalists

★ The First Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch, narrated by Scott Brick

★ Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep, narrated by Hillary Huber

★ The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth by Josh Levin, narrated by January Lavoy

★ Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense: The Courtroom Battles to Save His Legacy by Dan Abrams and David Fisher, narrated by Roger Wayne and Dan Abrams



Romance

Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas, narrated by Mary Jane Wells

Although beautiful young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never met West Ravenel, she knows one thing for certain: he’s a mean, rotten bully. Back in boarding school, he made her late husband’s life a misery, and she’ll never forgive him for it. But when Phoebe attends a family wedding, she encounters a dashing and impossibly charming stranger who sends a fire-and-ice jolt of attraction through her. And then he introduces himself…as none other than West Ravenel.

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Finalists

★ The Bride Test by Helen Hoang, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

★ The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez, narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Erin Mallon

★ Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper, narrated by Amanda Ronconi

★ Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, narrated by Ramon de Ocampo



Literary Fiction & Classics

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, narrated by Joe Morton

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.

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Finalists

★ Milkman by Anna Burns, narrated by Brid Brennan

★ Mythos by Stephen Fry, narrated by Stephen Fry

★ The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo, narrated by Yangsze Choo

★ Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, narrated by Jacqueline Woodson, with Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, Shayna Small, and Bahni Turpin



Faith-Based Fiction & Non-Fiction

How the Light Gets In by Jolina Petersheim, narrated by Tavia Gilbert

When Ruth Neufeld’s husband and father-in-law are killed working for a relief organization overseas, she travels to Wisconsin with her young daughters and mother-in-law Mabel to bury her husband. She hopes the Mennonite community will be a quiet place to grieve and piece together next steps. Ruth finds solace in the beauty of the land and healing through hard work and a budding new love with her husband’s cousin, Elam.

But an unexpected twist threatens to unseat the happy ending Ruth is about to write for herself. On the precipice of a fresh start and a new marriage, Ruth must make an impossible decision: which path to choose if her husband isn’t dead after all.

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Finalists

★ Breathe Again by Niki Hardy, narrated by Niki Hardy

★ Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind by Annaka Harris, narrated by Annaka Harris

★ Dare to See: Discovering God in the Everyday by Katie Brown, narrated by Katie Brown

★ Jezebel: The Prequel by Jacquelin Thomas, narrated by Janina Edwards



Middle Grade

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, narrated by Meryl Streep, Robin Miles, Kirby Heyborne, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Farr, Lincoln Hoppe, Mark Deakins, Tavia Gilbert, Danny Campbell, Emily Rankin, January Lavoy, and Macleod Andrews

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte’s Web, high up in Zuckerman’s barn. Charlotte’s spider web tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur’s life when he was born the runt of his litter.

E. B. White’s Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.

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Finalists

★ New Kid by Jerry Craft, narrated by Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Robin Miles, Guy Lockard, Peyton Lusk, Rebecca Soler, Dan Bittner, Phoebe Strole, Marc Thompson, Miles Harvey, and Ron Butler

★ Our Castle by the Sea by Lucy Strange, narrated by Lucy Strange

★ Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson, narrated by Almarie Guerra and a full cast

★ The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, narrated by Khristine Hvam



Short Stories / Collections

Full Throttle by Joe Hill, narrated by Stephen Lang, George Guidall, Neil Gaiman, Kate Mulgrew, Joe Hill, Zachary Quinto, Wil Wheaton, Nate Corddry, Ashleigh Cummings, Laysla De Oliveira, Connor Jessup

In this masterful collection of short fiction, Joe Hill dissects timeless human struggles in 13 relentless tales of supernatural suspense, including “In The Tall Grass”, one of two stories cowritten with Stephen King. Featuring two previously unpublished stories and a brace of shocking chillers, Full Throttle is a darkly imagined odyssey through the complexities of the human psyche. Hypnotic and disquieting, it mines our tormented secrets, hidden vulnerabilities, and basest fears and demonstrates this exceptional talent at his very best.

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Finalists

★ Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid, narrated by Julia Whelan, George Newbern, James Daniels, and Dara Rosenberg

★ Forward by Veronica Roth, Blake Crouch, N.K. Jemisin, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir, narrated by Evan Rachel Wood, Rosa Salazar, Jason Isaacs, David Harbour, Steven Strait, and Janina Gavankar

★ I’m Telling the Truth But I’m Lying by Bassey Ikpi, narrated by Bassey Ikpi

★ Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor and Whoopi Goldberg (foreword), narrated by Yetide Badaki



Audio Drama

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner, narrated by Bobby Cannavale, Nathan Lane, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Susan Brown, James Mcardle, Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough, Beth Malone, Lee Pace, and Edie Falco

In this production, adapted especially for the listening experience, Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, and the entire cast recreate their acclaimed performances from the 2018 Tony Award-winning National Theatre revival of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. With narration by Bobby Cannavale and Edie Falco, and a musical score by Adrian Sutton, this audiobook is a compelling and immersive theatrical listening experience.

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Finalists

★ The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey by James Lecesne, narrated by James Lecesne

★ Birthday Suit by Lauren Blakely, narrated by Andi Arndt, Sebastian York, January LaVoy, Julia Whelan, R.C. Bray, Shane East, Joe Arden, Erin Mallon, Dion Graham, Savannah Peachwood, Jason Clarke, and Robin Miles

★ Have a Nice Day by Billy Crystal and Quinton Peeples, narrated by by Justin Bartha, Annette Bening, Dick Cavett, Auli’l Cravalho, Billy Crystal, Rachel Dratch, Darrell Hammond, Christopher Jackson, Kevin Kline, Robin Thede

★ Puss in Boots by Neil Fishman, Harvey Edelman, and Khristine Hvam, performed by Jim Dale, Mark Aldrich, Barret Leddy, Nick Sullivan, Brian Holden, Al Fallick, Lisa Livesay, Meredith Inglesby, Lynn Norris, John E. Brady, and Johnny Heller



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Audiobooks.com Interview with Deb Olin Unferth, Author of Barn 8

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Have you ever sat on a beach in deep thought about the mysterious lives of chickens and what will come of them in the future? Deb Olin Unferth, author of Barn 8, certainly has. Best known for her novel Vacation and her recent collection of stories, Wait Till You See Me Dance, Unferth is now back with her latest creation, Barn 8 — a witty yet philosophical political drama, which has been praised, saying, “If this novel isn’t a movement, it has enough heart to start one.”

Audiobooks.com: What can readers gain from listening to the audiobook version of Barn 8 that they might not necessarily get from reading the print version?

Deb Olin Unferth: I love audiobooks. I listen to about thirty a year. I’ve been listening to them since you had to check them out of the library in a big box of numbered cassette tapes and lug them home on the train.

Brittany Pressley, who reads Barn 8, has so much personality in her voice. She’s so playful and has a terrific range. Barn 8 is told from several points of view and she switches between them with ease, making them come to life. It’s almost like listening to a radio drama.

Audiobooks.com: How involved were you in the narrator casting process and what do you look for in an audiobook narrator?

Deb Olin Unferth: I was given several options to choose from. I wanted someone who would bring a lot of energy and be able to handle the different points of view, [and] see it as a fun artistic challenge. Pressley jumped out right away, and she has an impressive list of books to her credit, too. A lot of range.

Generally what I look for in an audiobook narrator varies. For memoir, I prefer the author read it. I want to feel like I’m spending the afternoon with them over coffee and they’re confiding in me. I listened to Michelle Obama read her book, Becoming, and I swear I felt like she and I were hanging out, talking about the old days in Chicago, laughing about the antics in the White House, raging about politics, discussing exercise routines. It made me so happy!

For novels I prefer a professional reader who isn’t afraid to take someone else’s words and bring it to life with their own personal take. Most authors aren’t great at reading their own work, I’ve found, though there are exceptions. Nicholson Baker is an amazing reader of his own work. I could listen to him read his own books forever.

Audiobooks.com: Your novel touches on some very important but seldom talked about issues surrounding egg farming. What was your impetus for writing Barn 8? 

Deb Olin Unferth: Well, no one likes factory farming! No one wants chickens to live squashed in cages in giant barns. But it’s hard to think about, hard to face. As I learned about egg-layer chickens and the conditions they live in, I kept having this image of them all leaving the barns. It was such a relief just to imagine it. I decided to go ahead and make that feeling real, on the page.

Audiobooks.com: What research did you have to do for Barn 8 so that you could portray the hen’s perspectives as well as predict what might happen to them in the future?

Deb Olin Unferth: I did a huge amount of research for Barn 8! I wrote a long investigative piece on the egg industry for Harper’s Magazine. I interviewed undercover investigators, farmers, animal lawyers, all sorts of people.

And I spent a huge amount of time reading books and articles about chickens, visiting them on farms, big and small. I sat in hen houses and just watched them. I recorded their voices and listened to them on my headphones at night. This went on for years. I remember one night on vacation, sitting on the beach and contemplating all that I had learned and all that was still unknown to anyone about chickens. The image of them far into the future came to me.

Audiobooks.com: Do you find it hard to toe the line between conveying such a serious message while also injecting your sense of humor and lightheartedness into the novel? 

Deb Olin Unferth: Yes, I did. I had to keep taking out material that was too dark, and then putting it back in when I could couch it in enough humor or other kinds of emotion. I do feel like I see the world both darkly and lightheartedly at once anyway. It was a matter of getting the audience to follow along with me.

Audiobooks.com: Can you share with us what you’re working on next?

Deb Olin Unferth: Sure! I’m working on a sort-of sci-fi novel. Part of it takes place on Mars, part of it is on Earth at the end of civilization. Are there animals in it? Yes, there are! Is it funny? You bet.∎


New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!

Celebrate International Women’s Day with These Listens

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March 8 is International Women’s Day, an opportunity to honor the incredible achievements of women from around the world. In celebration, we’ve put together a list of audiobooks by women who empower those around them through storytelling. To see our full International Women’s Day booklist, click here.

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Shana Knizhnik and Irin Carmon, narrated by Andi Arndt

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg never asked for fame—she has only tried to make the world a little better and a little freer.

Notorious RBG draws on intimate access to Ginsburg’s family members, close friends, colleagues, and clerks, as well as an interview with the Justice herself. The book tells a never-before-told story of an unusual and transformative woman who transcends generational divides.

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Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History by Blair Imani, narrated by January Lavoy and Blair Imani

With a radical and inclusive approach to history, Modern HERstory profiles and celebrates seventy women and nonbinary women, girls, and gender nonbinary champions of progressive social change in a bold audiobook for all ages.

Hear about the people who have changed—and are still changing—the world, from the Civil Rights Movement and Stonewall riots through Black Lives Matter and beyond.

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The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West, narrated by Lindy West

In this wickedly funny cultural critique, the author of the critically acclaimed memoir and Hulu series Shrill exposes misogyny in the #MeToo era. 

From the moment powerful men started falling to the #MeToo movement, the lamentations began: this is feminism gone too far, this is injustice, this is a witch hunt. In The Witches Are Coming, firebrand author Lindy West turns that refrain on its head. 

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Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger by Soraya Chemaly, narrated by Soraya Chemaly

Women are often urged to bottle up their anger, letting it corrode their bodies and minds in ways we don’t even realize. In Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly argues that anger is not only justified, it is also an active part of the solution. 

Approached with conscious intention, anger is a vital instrument, a radar for injustice and a catalyst for change. On the flip side, the societal and cultural belittlement of our anger is a cunning way of limiting and controlling our power—one we can no longer abide.

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The Watergate Girl by Jill Wine-Banks, narrated by Cassandra Campbell and Jill Wine-Banks

Obstruction of justice, the specter of impeachment, sexism at work, shocking revelations: Jill Wine-Banks takes us inside her trial by fire as a Watergate prosecutor.

It is impossible to read about the crimes of Richard Nixon and the people around him without drawing parallels to today’s headlines. The book is also the story of a young woman who sought to make her professional mark while trapped in a failing marriage, buffeted by sexist preconceptions, and harboring secrets of her own. 

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This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins, narrated by Morgan Jerkins

From one of the fiercest critics writing today, Morgan Jerkins’ highly-anticipated collection of linked essays interweaves her incisive commentary on pop culture, feminism, black history, misogyny, and racism with her own experiences to confront the very real challenges of being a black woman today.

Morgan Jerkins has already established herself as an insightful, brutally honest writer who isn’t afraid of tackling tough, controversial subjects. In This Will Be My Undoing, she takes on perhaps one of the most provocative contemporary topics: What does it mean to “be”—to live as, to exist as—a black woman today?

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New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!

February’s Top 10 Audiobooks.com Member Downloads

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Listen to last month’s most popular fiction and non-fiction titles downloaded by Audiobooks.com members.


Fiction

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, narrated by Yareli Arizmendi, Jeanine Cummins

Publisher Summary:

Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.

Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia—trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?

American Dirt will leave listeners utterly changed. It is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity. It is one of the most important books for our times.

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Golden in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel (In Death, Book 50) by J. D. Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen

Pediatrician Kent Abner received the package on a beautiful April morning. Inside was a cheap trinket, a golden egg that could be opened into two halves. When he pried it apart, highly toxic airborne fumes entered his body—and killed him.

After Eve Dallas calls the hazmat team—and undergoes testing to reassure both her and her husband that she hasn’t been exposed—it’s time to look into Dr. Abner’s past and relationships. Not every victim Eve encounters is an angel, but it seems that Abner came pretty close—though he did ruffle some feathers over the years by taking stands for the weak and defenseless. While the lab tries to identify the deadly toxin, Eve hunts for the sender. But when someone else dies in the same grisly manner, it becomes clear that she’s dealing with either a madman—or someone who has a hidden and elusive connection to both victims.

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Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, narrated by Jennifer Lim

Publisher Summary:

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides.  Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

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Crooked River by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston, narrated by Jefferson Mays

Publisher Summary:

Appearing out of nowhere to horrify the quiet resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida, dozens of identical, ordinary-looking shoes float in on the tide and are washed up on the tropical beach—each one with a crudely severed human foot inside.

Called away from vacation elsewhere in the state, Agent Pendergast reluctantly agrees to visit the crime scene—and, despite himself, is quickly drawn in by the incomprehensible puzzle. An early pathology report only adds to the mystery. With an ocean of possibilities confronting the investigation, no one is sure what happened, why, or from where the feet originated. And they desperately need to know: are the victims still alive?

In short order, Pendergast finds himself facing the most complex and inexplicable challenge of his career: a tangled thread of evidence that spans seas and traverses continents, connected to one of the most baffling mysteries in modern medical science. Through shocking twists and turns, all trails lead back to a powerful adversary with a sadistic agenda and who—in a cruel irony—ultimately sees in Pendergast the ideal subject for their malevolent research.

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The Outsider by Stephen King, narrated by Will Patton

Publisher Summary:

An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is discovered in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens—Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon have DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying details begin to emerge, King’s story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.

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Non-Fiction

Open Book by Jessica Simpson, narrated by Jessica Simpson

Publisher Summary:

Jessica reveals for the first time her inner monologue and most intimate struggles. Guided by the journals she’s kept since age fifteen, and brimming with her unique humor and down-to-earth humanity, Open Book is as inspiring as it is entertaining.

This was supposed to be a very different book. Five years ago, Jessica Simpson was approached to write a motivational guide to living your best life. She walked away from the offer, and nobody understood why. The truth is that she didn’t want to lie.

Jessica couldn’t be authentic with her readers if she wasn’t fully honest with herself first.

Now America’s Sweetheart, preacher’s daughter, pop phenomenon, reality tv pioneer, and the billion-dollar fashion mogul invites readers on a remarkable journey, examining a life that blessed her with the compassion to help others, but also burdened her with an almost crippling need to please. Open Book is Jessica Simpson using her voice, heart, soul, and humor to share things she’s never shared before.

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Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell, narrated by Malcolm Gladwell

Publisher Summary:

How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn’t true?

While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you’ll hear the voices of people he interviewed–scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There’s even a theme song—Janelle Monae’s ‘Hell You Talmbout.’

Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know. And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.

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Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson, narrated by Roger Wayne

Publisher Summary:

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. ‘F**k positivity,’ Mark Manson says. ‘Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.’ In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—’not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.’ Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.

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Educated by Tara Westover, narrated by Julia Whelan

Publisher Summary:

An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a Ph.D. from Cambridge University.

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

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A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, narrated by Hillary Huber, Carol Leonnig, and Philip Rucker

Publisher Summary:

“I alone can fix it.” So went Donald J. Trump’s march to the presidency on July 21, 2016, when he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in Cleveland, promising to restore what he described as a fallen nation. Yet over the subsequent years, as he has undertaken the actual work of the commander in chief, it has been hard to see beyond the daily chaos of scandal, investigation, and constant bluster. It would be all too easy to mistake Trump’s first term for one of pure and uninhibited chaos, but there were patterns to his behavior and that of his associates. The universal value of the Trump administration is loyalty—not to the country, but to the president himself—and Trump’s North Star has been the perpetuation of his own power, even when it meant imperiling our shaky and mistrustful democracy.

Leonnig and Rucker, with deep and unmatched sources throughout Washington, D.C., tell of rages and frenzies but also moments of courage and perseverance. Relying on scores of exclusive new interviews with some of the most senior members of the Trump administration and other firsthand witnesses, the authors reveal the forty-fifth president up close, taking readers inside Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation as well as the president’s own haphazard but ultimately successful legal defense. Here for the first time certain officials who have felt honor-bound not to publicly criticize a sitting president or to divulge what they witnessed in a position of trust tell the truth for the benefit of history.

This peerless and gripping narrative reveals President Trump at his most unvarnished and exposes how decision making in his administration has been driven by a reflexive logic of self-preservation and self-aggrandizement—but a logic nonetheless. This is the story of how an unparalleled president has scrambled to survive and tested the strength of America’s democracy and its common heart as a nation.

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New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!

Audiobooks.com Interview with Cara Black, Author of Three Hours in Paris

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Who among us hasn’t had the odd daydream or two about picking up and jetting off to France and just living like a Parisian for a while? We might browse wistfully through flights, but never take the plunge. Meanwhile, Cara Black, author of the Aimee Leduc series, has penned 20 novels that are set in this cultural hotbed including her latest standalone, Three Hours in Paris (releasing April 2020).

We were lucky enough to catch up with Black to chat about her latest listen, audiobook narrators, and what inspires her writing.

Audiobooks.com: What can readers gain from listening to the audiobook version of Three Hours in Paris that they might not necessarily get from reading the print version?

Cara Black: Both versions have so much to offer. However, in the audiobook version there’s the immediacy of the spoken word and the reader’s intonation and nuances of feeling that enhance listening to the story. Also you can listen to the story anywhere hands-free.

Audiobooks.com: How involved are you in the narrator casting process and what do you look for in an audiobook narrator?

Cara Black: I felt it was important to go with a new voice to distinguish Three Hours in Paris from the Aimée Leduc series. I liked the sample from Elisabeth Rogers—her voice, intonation, expression, and how she puts emphasis on phrases. She’s good! So I decided to go with Elisabeth Rogers, a new reader, and I feel so happy she is Kate’s “voice.”

Audiobooks.com: This is your first standalone novel. How did it feel to venture away from your Aimée Leduc Investigation series?

Cara Black: I felt compelled to write Three Hours in Paris. It was a story I had to tell, and it came from a footnote in history. I’d been writing bits while I wrote the Aimée Leduc series, but these pieces didn’t fit in an Aimée story so I saved them. I had only written series novels, which I love to do and will continue, so it was a leap to write a standalone. It was time to flex my writing muscles and this story had high stakes in a time of incredible history. With a new setting and era in history, it gave me freedom and a chance to explore other voices and viewpoints.

Audiobooks.com: All of your Aimée Leduc Investigation novels as well as Three Hours in Paris are set in France. After writing 20 books set in France do you find that you’re still learning new things about the country and the culture? Do you ever see yourself writing a novel set outside of France?

Cara Black: Definitely. I’m always learning new things about the French and France. I love the history, the traditions, the slower pace of life, its culture of living well, and the charming, contradictory Parisians I come across. If I ever figure them out, the mystery will be over. Yes, I’ve got a few ideas for a novel outside of France.

Audiobooks.com: In your author’s note, you mentioned the idea for Three Hours in Paris grew from anecdotes that you encountered on your research trips to Paris. When you travel, are you always picking up tidbits and saving them for future inspiration?

Cara Black: There’s a saying about writers, “everything is fodder.” So, I’m always jotting down a word overheard, a color that catches my eye, or a saying that encapsulates a feeling. And I always try to use what I find in France on the page.

Over the years researching, I was lucky and honored to meet several female Résistants who were in the underground during WW2. They told me stories and shared their experiences. Also, many of my friend’s parents had been schoolchildren in Paris during the war, and it was incredible to hear firsthand accounts of what they remembered: daily life and privations that didn’t make it in the history books.

Audiobooks.com: Can we expect more stories about Kate Rees in the future?

Cara Black: I wrote this as a standalone novel. But we end in 1940 when the war is in the early stages, and I left Kate’s trajectory open-ended, so it’s a possibility. ∎


New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!

Book Clubbin’: 10 Discussion Questions for The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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Welcome to our monthly blog feature, Book Clubbin’!

Sometimes life can get so hectic that you’re lucky if you find time to shower let alone read your book club book in time. If your New Years’ resolution is to read more but you can’t find the time, audiobooks are the answer! You can press play on this month’s pick during your commute or while you’re cooking dinner and before you know it, you’ll have knocked out those pages in no time!

February’s pick is The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, narrated by Joe Morton. The novel is Coates’ first foray into fiction, whose bibliography also includes the acclaimed memoir Between the World and Me. Not only was The Water Dancer chosen for Oprah’s Book Club revival, but it also debuted at the top of the New York Times Fiction Best Seller list. Coates began writing the novel around 2008 and 2009 when he was doing extensive research on slavery and the Civil War. Set on a struggling tobacco plantation in Virginia, The Water Dancer follows Hiram Walker, a young mixed-race boy born into slavery who discovers he possesses a superhuman ability when he falls into a river.

You definitely don’t want to miss this striking debut novel. Check out our discussion questions below, but beware — SPOILERS ahead.

—————MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!————

1) Is the story buoyed by only having Hiram’s point-of-view, or did you feel it was lacking in opportunity and diversity by excluding other characters’ voices?

2) Why do you think Coates decided to write The Water Dancer through the lens of magic realism? What did the addition of his characters’ extraordinary abilities allow Coates to explore and interrogate that he couldn’t have done if the novel wasn’t embellished with magic?

3) Memory is a key theme in the novel. What is Coates suggesting by making the power of Conduction directly tied to memories and the act of remembering? What is the significance of Hiram being unable to recall certain memories?

4) Consider this quote:

“At every gathering there was this dispute about my mother’s mother, Santi Bess, and her fate. The myth held that she had executed the largest escape of tasking folk—forty-eight souls—ever recorded in the annals of Elm County. And it was not simply that they had escaped but where they’d been said to escape to—Africa. It was said that Santi had simply led them down to the river Goose, walked in, and reemerged on the other side of the sea.”

Discuss the significance of River Goose which for some, such as Maynard, is a symbol of danger and death, while for others, like Hiram and Santi Bess, is a symbol of resistance and freedom.

5) How did you feel about the inclusion of a real historical figure such as Harriet Tubman in the story? What impact did it have?

6) Why do you think Coates chose to set The Water Dancer predominantly on a declining tobacco plant? How does Coates juxtapose the trajectory of Lockless to the plights of Hiram and the Underground?

7) Coates often wrestles with how the war against injustice should be waged. When Corrine Quinn and Hawkins plan to take down Georgie Parks, Hiram reminds us that even Georgie was forced into his exploits by circumstance. To what extent is revenge or punishment just when each character is trapped in one way or another?

8) Discuss the complexities of motherhood and fatherhood in the novel and the many forms of “family” we encounter. How does slavery corrupt families? How does Hiram come to define family by the end?

9) Consider the experiences of enslaved women versus enslaved men. How does Coates convey tensions between black characters along gender lines? How does it impact Hiram and Sophia’s relationship over time?

10) Is there any part of the book that you wish had been written differently?

New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!